We're probably still a ways off from a solid release date for BioWare's massively multiplayer online role-playing game, [url id="http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/10/27/bioware-consequence-mmos/"]"Star Wars: The Old Republic."[/url] But "Star Wars"-loving gamers are excited for every new trailer, interview and tidbit released about it, although details have been a bit thin.

Take [video id="396933"]this latest trailer[/video], which makes its exclusive debut here on MTVNews.com after premiering at the Electronic Entertainment Expo on Monday (June 1). It features a gorgeous CG sequence, filled with blaster bolts, lightsabers and Force powers. Not a trace of actual gameplay to be found in there, but that doesn't mean fans can't gush all over the place over how good it all looks in motion. The "Clone Wars" cartoon was visually impressive in its own cartoony way, but the gritty CG action on display in this latest "Old Republic" trailer is exactly the sort of material that longtime fans of the franchise would like to see more of.

"The Old Republic" is set early in the established "Star Wars" timeline, long before your Luke Skywalkers and your Han Solos. We're talking 3,500 years before the events established in the movies, and 300 years after everything that occurred in BioWare's previous "Star Wars" game, "Knights of the Old Republic." "The Old Republic" is set against the backdrop of a massive galactic war between the Galactic Republic (allies of the Jedi) and the Sith Empire. Players will be able to select from a number of character classes from either faction, including Bounty Hunter, Trooper, Smuggler and others still to be announced.

It's an ambitious beast, with the Canadian developer applying its complex narrative sensibilities to the typically text-window-heavy worlds that typify the most currently popular MMOs. With the annual E3 conference happening right now in Los Angeles, it is reasonable to expect that we'll soon be hearing new details on BioWare's post-"Knights of the Old Republic" return to "Star Wars," which also happens to be the company's first foray into the MMO space.